Signs and Symptoms

• Homeopathy, an alternative medical system that is commonly used in Europe and elsewhere, relies on a careful description of symptoms to devise cures. Homeopaths follow the rule "Like cures like," meaning that they prescribe substances that have been shown to produce symptoms like those they are treating when given to healthy individuals. Knowing the signs of astrocytomas and other brain cancers is central to finding the appropriate treatments.
  
  Since the cells that are affected by astrocytomas are deep within the brain, symptoms tend to show up late in the progress of the disease. The World Health Organization has identified 126 types of brain tumors, of which 85 percent are astrocytoma and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tumors. Signs are the same as for other types of brain cancer, like gliomas. Some common symptoms include headaches, nausea, vomiting, difficulty walking or balancing, and any changes that suggest that normal brain functions are being disrupted. Weakness and clumsiness or seizures can happen as a result of pressure on the brain from the growing tumors.
  
  

Homeopathy and Brain Cancer

• There are a number of homeopathic remedies for cancer, some of which have been supported by scientific research. In "A Homoeopathic Approach to Cancer," homeopathic physician A.U. Ramakrishnan recommended Arsenicum album (arsenic trioxide) and two other preparations for a wide range of cancers. While arsenic is a poisonous element, the way homeopathic remedies are prepared renders it harmless. Homeopaths believe that less is more, literally---the more times a substance is diluted, the greater its effect. So most potent homeopathic medicines have untraceable amounts of their main ingredient. Arsenic has reportedly been used in China to treat cancers and more recently has been included in cancer chemotherapy treatments after research showed that it kills glial cells, of which astrocytes are one type.
  
  Ferrum metallicum, or metallic iron, known as the element in red blood cells essential for transporting oxygen throughout the body, is shown in homeopathic tests to strengthen the blood cells and the immune system, which helps fight cancer.
  
  Poison ivy (Toxicodendron pubescens) has been shown to activate lymphocytes, one of the types of white blood cells that fight infections, and homeopaths believe it helps the white blood cells attack cancer cells specifically.
  
  Scutellaria barbata is an herb known as ban zhi lian in Chinese and is a traditional Chinese medicine. The plant extract appears to interfere with the growth of blood cells that feed tumors, a major thrust of current anti-cancer research.
  
  Thuja, also known as Arbor vita or white cedar, is a traditional Native American herb. Its use as a homeopathic treatment for cancers was suggested by Ramakrishnan and is found in other homeopathic anti-cancer preparations, including Canova.
  
  

Metodo Canova

• Metodo Canova is a homeopathic formula created by Brazilian doctor Francisco Canova. His remedy, which also includes Arsenicum album, Aconitum (a poisonous plant, also called monkshood or friar's cap), Bryoma and Lachesis mutus, made from the poison of the South American bushmaster snake.
  
  Marianna Da Rocha Piemonte and a colleague at the Federal University of Parana in Curitiba, Brazil, investigated Canova and found definite effects on white blood cells that attack the cancer.